PASCAGOULA, Miss., July 1, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that Stratton (WMSL 752), the company's third U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter (NSC), successfully completed builder's sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico. The company's latest NSC, built at Ingalls Shipbuilding, spent three full days at sea effectively testing all of the ship's systems.
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"Our sea trial team put Stratton through a rigorous test regime this week, and the ship performed very well," said Mike Duthu, NSC program manager for Ingalls Shipbuilding. "Builder's trials is a critical step in our preparations for customer acceptance trials, and we're very satisfied we'll be ready. Congratulations to our shipbuilders, the Coast Guard and our industry partners on a very successful underway period. This ship is truly a testament to their hard work and the dedication of our entire team."
NSCs are the flagships of the Coast Guard fleet, designed to replace the 378‐foot Hamilton-class High-Endurance Cutters, which entered service during the 1960s.
While underway, Ingalls' test and trials team conducted extensive testing of the propulsion, electrical, damage control, anchor handling, small boat and combat systems. This culminated in the successful completion of a four-hour, full-power propulsion run.
First Lady Michelle Obama is the ship's sponsor for Stratton. She christened the ship at Ingalls Shipbuilding on July 23, 2010.
Stratton is the third of eight planned ships in this new class of highly capable, technologically advanced multi-mission cutters. Bertholf and Waesche have been commissioned and are successfully executing Coast Guard missions. The construction contract for a fourth cutter, Hamilton, was awarded in November 2010. Ingalls Shipbuilding builds the NSC hull, mechanical and electrical systems, while Lockheed Martin builds and integrates the command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities onboard the cutters.
Over the three-day trial period, all of the C4ISR systems were tested, including the surface and air tracking radars as well as the communications and navigational systems.
NSCs are 418 feet long, with a 54-foot beam, displacing 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 110.
The Legend-class NSC is capable of meeting all maritime security mission needs. The cutter includes an aft launch and recovery area for two rigid hull inflatable boats and a flight deck to accommodate a range of manned and unmanned rotary wing aircraft. It is the largest and most technologically advanced class of cutter in the U.S. Coast Guard, with robust capabilities for maritime homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defense missions. This class of cutters plays an important role enhancing the Coast Guard's operational readiness, capacity and effectiveness at a time when the demand for their services has never been greater.
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) designs, builds and maintains nuclear and non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and provides after-market services for military ships around the globe. For more than a century, HII has built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. Employing nearly 38,000 in Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and California, its primary business divisions are Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding. For more information, please visit www.huntingtoningalls.com.
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